National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
NPS Form 10-900-a OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 (8-86) United States Department of the Interior New York State Barge Canal Historic District National Park Service Albany, Cayuga, Erie, Herkimer, Madison, Monroe, Montgomery, Niagara, Oneida, Onondaga, Orleans, Oswego, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady, Seneca, Washington, and Wayne Counties, New York National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 8 Page 1 Summary Paragraph: The New York State Barge Canal is a nationally significant work of early twentieth century engineering and construction that affected transportation and maritime commerce across the eastern third of the continent for nearly half a century. It was also an embodiment of Progressive Era beliefs that public works and public control of transportation infrastructure could counterbalance the growing monopoly power of railroads and other corporations. The Barge Canal system’s four main branches, the Erie, Champlain, Oswego, and Cayuga-Seneca canals, are much enlarged versions of waterways that were initially constructed during the 1820s. The Erie Canal, first opened in 1825, was America’s most successful and influential manmade waterway, facilitating and shaping the course of settlement in the Northeast, Midwest, and Great Plains; connecting the Atlantic seaboard with territories west of the Appalachian Mountains, and establishing New York City as the nation’s premiere seaport and commercial center. Built to take advantage of the only natural lowlands between Georgia and Labrador, New York’s canals were enormously successful and had to be enlarged repeatedly during the nineteenth century to accommodate larger boats and increased traffic. The Barge Canal, constructed 1905-18, is the latest and most ambitious enlargement.
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